Report justifies war says Straw

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said David Kay`s Iraq Survey Group report was "further conclusive and incontrovertible evidence" that the Iraqi regime had breached United Nations resolutions.

It showed that the military action taken by the United States and the UK was "justified and essential", he said.

Dr Kay's Iraq Survey Group has been scouring Iraq for the past three months for the weapons which were the basis for the invasion.

The outcome of their efforts could have a crucial bearing on the political futures of both Prime Minister Tony Blair and - to a lesser extent - US President George Bush.

Dr Kay, a former United Nations weapons inspector credited with dismantling Saddam's nuclear programme in the 1990s, stressed his report provided just a "snapshot" of the on-going investigation.

"The report does not represent a final reckoning of Iraq's WMD programmes, nor are we at the point where we are prepared to close the file on any of these programmes," he said.

"While solid progress - I would say even remarkable progress considering the conditions that the ISG has had to work under - has been made in this initial period of operations, much remains to be done."